Reviews

First off, the map here is wrong. It is between canada way and grandview across from the gas station..

Had the ginger beef, chicken balls and a noodle and beef dish.

The ginger beef, was not as good as chongqing, but that's probably the best i've had, so its a pretty high standard. They did not have any like, whole peppers in it, which is always sad. Wasn't super hot. It wasn't too hard at least. As some places just burn them to a crisp. No it was ok, i mean its what I would expect from a decent place, and the portion was quite large.

The chicken balls my wife really loved, but I thought somewhere oldschool like rickshaw made much better sauce. It wasn't oversweet though. They also weren't swimming in it, which we disagreed on, which method was better. Sure they keep longer if they are separated from the sauce, but the sauce was not enough to cover all balls when individually dispensed. Its good though, as there were a lot and there will be leftovers, I just like it when the sauce is together, otherwise its just like a chicken finger or something - nothing says 'american chinese food' like sweet red sauce wrapped fried things. The chicken inside was not skimpy.

The noodle beef dish was pretty heavy on the noodles. And low on vegetables. Perhaps we should have got a pure vegetable dish. Oh well.

Service was good, restaurant looked nice inside but i didn't stay. Egg rolls were top notch., crisp and the fillings didn't all just fall out one end.

I would eat here again for sure, and the price wasn't too bad. Not as cheap as others have said, I think about 10-13 dollars a dish rather than 8-10 as stated below. Dishes were heavy as others have noted. 3 dishes easily would feed 4 people. We made our own rice so cant comment on that.

all around 3 stars. Portions good, everything you expect from a chinese restaurant and absolutely nothing was tasteless. Just off the mark of perfection.

This is not a restaurant, it is a chocolate factory. They have an amazing deal where you can buy bags of factory seconds, 4 for $20 dollars. These are big bags with 20+ pieces of chocolate in each bag.

They also sell all of the other chocolates at the same type of mall prices you would find at a fancy chocolate store. I like them better than purdies, and the factory seconds simply cannot be beat in pure value.

So we went here on a groupon for 50% off for two. At that price, it was worth it. At the normal price? forget it! go to maurya india a few blocks closer to main st for a much better quality of food.

So first off, the view is amazing. You can see across false creek to all the lit up towers and it does look magical. The waiters were very attentive and there were many of them. Some buffets cheap out on the wait staff but that was clearly not the case here. However when it came to the food, my feelings were mixed. I did not have any dish that I thoroughly enjoyed, or was made in a way that was unique. All dishes had a similar peppery spice to them. I heard other tables complaining about the spice, however I like it spicy and didnt find it too hot. My wifes opinion of buffets, if they have tonnes of jello, they are trying to save money. This buffet had three different types. This opinion held true to the main dishes. All paneer dishes were very light on paneer, same with the meet dishes being light on the meat. The goat curry was good, however was all bones!! very hard to find any meat unless you were the first one to the buffet after it was restocked. The butter chicken tasted watered down and runny, the palak paneer was way over puureed. I almost wonder if they used powdered spinach. One nice thing I thought, buffet naan!! which is sometimes hard to find. However I was then disappointed by rock hard, pita-esque not naans. Not sure what else to call them.

It seemed like the owner was trying to cut costs. Lots of jello, potatoes rice, not much meat or cheese. The butter chicken was full of meat, but the sauce made it kinda of so-so. Beer was affordable at $4 a pint for some nice ones like sapporro.

Its just your run of the mill downtown buffet place. Nothing special. It did make me personally feel full till noon the next day. Not sure if that is good or bad, as usually buffet doesnt do that. I almost felt too full and my wife felt sick for a day, but she is more sensitive than I.

Bottom line, lots of sauces, cheap on anything that costs money, but they did have pretty much all the popular dishes represented. They could do a lot more with what they have (especially at a regular price of 15+ dollars), a nice looking restaurant, nice location and nice view. If you are looking for good indian food though, pick Maurya instead for their lunch buffet @ 13.95. If I wasnt paying half price already for this new india I would have been really disappointed to pay 40 bucks for at best, mediocre food.

Amazing unique tastes, I thought indian but realizing african is not surprising

Submitted Friday, October 11, 2013 - 9:09pm [Dine in]

Ate here two or three times, always more than enough food for the price, always left full. Have done their takeout, which the menu does not seem to be available online sadly. Most entre's under 13 dollars, and take out most things are $11.

But the main thing is the tastes in the food. Excellent flavourful, ingredient filled curries. Truly excelling in quality, with little details such as cilantro on the masla potatoes (melt in your mouth). I have had delicious lamb, beef kebabs that tasted as if slow roasted on a spit all day, juicy and filling. Lentil soup, complimentary delicious chip things, the list goes on. They have an interesting take on channa, if you are used to the east indian versions. It was quite unique. It reminds me of Ethiopian food, albeit more approachable. Most dishes served with rice and naan.

As for the restaurant, its quite elegant inside with a bar and lots of banquet tables. They have a small patio but as it under-looks canada way, its pretty crappy. We drove by this place many times, before deciding to go in, and now we have been back a few times. I really just thought it was some sort of diner, not at all flavourful indianesque cuisine. It has been packed as well as empty, so you might want to call ahead. Remember to take a take out menu for your next visit. You will go back. Especially if you live in the neighbourhood. Reminds me of a fusion place as well. An undiscovered gem :) 4 stars

Seeing as all the other reviews rave about this place, I hate to be negative. But I feel that the other reviews do not do not present a complete view of the place. You will spend money, beyond the price of admission. Its a bit like disney land where there are many ways to spend your money, after you have already paid $55 for admission. Drinks are 5-6$ at the cheapest or you can get better value for the 12-14 dollar 3 shot drinks in what they call "dam" size. That is a good value so that was a plus.

An annoying thing is that they add an automatic 20% gratuity. I did not pay so I am not sure if this was mandatory or not. This is sometimes understandable with a large party, however we were 3 only, and only buying alcohol.

The food portions were average size. Nothing to write home about and certainly the tables were not overflowing with breads or snacks as other posts seem to mention. Although the food was good, it was simple, which again, is a plus for some and a negative for others.

The show itself was hit and miss starting with a sketch portion with audience participation followed by musical entertainment. A good time if you are drinking for sure. The musical acts were quite good however and the staff really did seem like they had their hearts in it 100%! But again, you need to be into some politically incorrect jokes and lude stuff, however nothing worse than the stuff you see on saturday night live. Audience participation is extremely liberal and you can opt out of most of the contact with the actors if you so choose. It is very fun to interact with them though! The jokes would best be described as silly, and things to make you giggle. It is accurately named in that respect, and I think dam refers to your expression when you see the bill! Booya!

Overall it was a good experience, and I would most likely recommend it with the caveats above.

This is a very small restaurant in a strip mall. The owners have clearly skimped on all pretence of having a "restaurant" proper. This is more like eating in your chinese neighbours kitchen. Flatware and china is very cheap, nothing to write home about. All this doesn't really get in the way of enjoyment of the food, which is quite good actually when you get down to it. The ginger beef, while not as good as chung king, does satisfy. Vegetable dishes are fresh and the vegetables are plentiful on the plate.

My main problem with this restaurant is that if you are going to skimp on decor, wait staff (they only have one) and other things, the lower price should be reflected in the food. Most entrées are 10$ which isnt bad, but for the cheap feel of the place, I would expect a few dollars lower. Portions are generous however so it's easy to get over some of these little inconveniences. For two people, we paid about 35$ with appetizers and soup. Again a decent price, but I wouldn't bring anyone here that you were trying to impress. This restaurant seems to mainly cater to the take out crowd.

Verdict: Good food, mid range prices, crappy decor. With the amount of chinese restaurants out there, I am sure you could find a better one. But for a small hole in the wall local place, you could do far worse.

Had a lunch buffet there today. Havent been in years, but used to frequent it . Perhaps my tastes have changed in that time, but I did not find it as enjoyable. I must echo another reviewer in saying that small numbers of buffet items (4 or 5 main courses and stupid dal) isnt automatically a turn off. That said, they have to taste somewhat individual or unique from eachother.

I too have been spoled by saffron, but being stuck in north van today I thought I would try it instead. For 9 dollars you are getting ONE basket of naan, and a mediocre buffet. Generally, I will not go to indian "buffets" as most are a cut corners slopfest. I must say it was better than that. The beef was overstewed, the buttered chicken was tasteless, uninspired and no chilli pickles were provided to fix it. Aloo with carrots was passable. The pakoras were well fried, not soggy or but not spicy either. My wife who cannot take any level of spice also agreed that the food sort of blended together. The tandoori was flavourful at the beginning, but towards then end became smelly and repugnant. In a good buffet, the meal will stay savory untill the end. In a bad one, the taste changes as your body gets used to the somewhat exotic spices - the food in bad restaurants hides behind this initial appeal to non-conformity.

That said, it wasnt that off. The naan was excellently oiled and the perfect texture. The one or two tastes that spread themselves over all the items was not offensive and actually quite enjoyable. Salad bar was a joke, but riata was good.

Service was frequent and quiet which is how i like it. Water was filled multiple times.

I feel like this restaurant is a 3. Go there if your far away from saffron by willingdon, or not in surrey. Its probably akin to mediocre surrey quality food. Best indian ive had on the north shore at least.

Well what can I say except that this is NOT authentic indian cuisine, nor is it "americanized" indian cuisine. Aparently "spicy" to these people means "dump in more gram masala powder". Do not order Bhurtha, or alternatively, make sure you taste it first, so that your tastebuds will be scalded from the oil overuse and evident powdered spices. Forget about subtle blends and distinct tastes, or let me just put it thusly - to make up for their completely flavourless buttered chicken, they use tandoori chicken. I am not kidding. Clearly on the
menu it lists "buttered chicken", not pieces of underflavoured tandoori sitting in a bland, virging on sweet soup of orange. They even serve it to you in a regular china bowl, not a metal indian dish. I would guess this is because the chef refused to let this basterdization come into contact with any real indian cookware. I am used to horrid, campbells soup tasting buttered chicken but this shortcutting, dr moreau-esque hybrid of tandoori/buttered chicken takes the cake. The service was horrid, they completely fucked up our order of two items and naan, and on top of all that its way overpriced! I should have turned back immediately at seeing an ENTIRELY white staff, but I thought to myself "how bad can it be?". It is that bad. Do yourself a favour, drive to surrey. At scott rd and 76 there is a restaurant called Tandoori Kitchen, next to futureshop which is probably the best indian food in the lower mainland. I know im dumb for expecting good indian food outside of surrey, but hell, I didnt know it could be so bad!!